"Will Sheff, leader of the Austin indie-rock band Okkervil River, writes like a novelist. His songs are full of elegant phrases and unexpected images that tell - or don't quite tell - stories of characters trying to figure out if they need each other...The marvelous new Okkervil River album Black Sheep Boy should advance his cult further." - New York Times
"Wordy and dense, prone to murder ballads, full of soft strings and Wurlitzers, [Black Sheep Boy] manages to be both violent and bookish; it's a striking, woebegone work that offers up its charms slowly...The album winds down with the nine minutes-long "So Come Back, I Am Waiting," one of many Okkervil River songs that plays out like the strangest Cocteau movie you've probably never seen," - Chicago Tribune
"Sheff never overplays his hand and always maintains control, which...makes him at once heartbreaking and somewhat humorous - more self-aware than Conor Oberst, more serious than Colin Meloy, more legible than Jeff Mangum." - Pitchfork Media
